House, Senate pass first Sandy aid bill

Congress approved and sent to the White House Friday emergency legislation raising the borrowing authority for the national flood insurance program to pay tens of thousands of claims piling up after Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast in October.

The $9.7 billion bill sailed through the House on a 354-67 vote despite protests from outside conservative groups like the Club for Growth and the notable defection of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the Budget Committee chairman and GOP vice presidential candidate.

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Winners, losers in House Sandy aid debate

The Senate acted hours later under a unanimous consent agreement to speed the bill to President Barack Obama for his signature before a deadline next week when the insurance fund is slated to run out of money.

Indeed the Senate has already approved the same flood insurance language as part of a larger $60.4 billion disaster aid package that was allowed to die with the 112th Congress after Speaker John Boehner opted to abruptly pull the measure from the House calendar.

Boehner’s decision Tuesday night — overruling Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — set off a furious reaction from Northeast Republicans including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. After a meeting Wednesday, Friday’s vote was hastily scheduled to make amends and serve as a down payment toward a Jan 15 debate on a larger aid package.

“It’s important to put past recriminations behind us…Let’s go forward standing as one,” said Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who had been among the loudest in condemning Boehner’s handling to the situation. But Democrats were not about to totally let up.

“While it is never too late to do the right thing, it is late that we are doing this thing and we are doing only the bare minimum,” said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said that Friday’s vote was only a “promissory note” that will mean nothing unless followed by a fuller package this month.

“We have a promissory note. I’m concerned until the promissory note has been put into the bank and stamped that it has sufficient funds,” Meeks said. “And in this case it has got to be put in the bank and stamped that we have the votes that are necessary for the people of this region.

“They’ve been suffering,” he added emotionally. “They have been suffered long enough. They need to hear from their government that their government is with them just as it has been with everybody else in this country”

Chastened by the uproar this week, Republicans split 161-67 voted for the bill, and the whole debate seemed designed at times to tamp down any stampede by the right.

The bill’s manager was no less than Rep, Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), a fiscal conservative who famously voted against an early Katrina aid bill in 2005. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), with strong leadership credentials and the chairmanship now of the House Financial Services Committee added his support as did Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.).

Their Government is not "with them". Their government is with all their campaign contributors and supporters that the Democrats are trying to grease by STEALING money that should rightly go to the Sandy victims and allocating it in the same bill,to their pals and unrelated projects. Boehner was smart enough to see this and stop it in time to keep the Democrats from taking advantage of a "crisis",as they always do. ALL the money should go to IMMEDIATE relief and not this piecemeal partisan porkbarrel crap that the slimeball Democrats are trying to pass off as humane legislation.

1. Too little too late. If a disaster struck my state I am now confident my House Rep/GOP of 15+ years would not be there for me. Time to move on past him and vote for someone else. 2. All House/Senate bills are filled with pork and yet Congress passes them all the time. Bailed out the banks had pork for bows and arrows. So banks are more important than the people of NY/NJ? We need reform or revolution against any bills that contain not similar or corresponding bills. IE: All disaster aid could be together but rum is not disaster aid. 3. Bring back line item veto. There are a ton of actions/bills that never pass because of the pork and there are a ton that are passed that parts of the costs or favors to big donors that cost/spend the tax dollars of the people that shoud not be there. In the end what the House GOP showed me is that they would not be there for me or my state. Hence voting out my 15+ year GOP Representative.

And now the other $50 billion will probably never get to the people in need, all in the name of 'deficit reduction', since this pitiful $9 billion will give republicans enough cover to say "we helped" for a storm that will cost $84 billion to clean up for.

Gee, mighty big of them, but a day late and a dollar short. Heartless s.o.b's. lesson learned?: war between the blue states and red states. Let's see how long the red's would last without the money from the blues (due to population). Put your money where your mouth is, reds!

Let the PORK Flow! Nothing but bucks for pork, friviolity and payoffs! Santa Obama just added 20 Million to the debt load to vacation, play golf and do a little chooming! Isn't Grand Incompetence Grand?

By the way - CNN a liberal, progressive, Solidly Democrat and biased news organization says wasteful spending and over spending has nothing to do with the national debt! And CNN listens to Obama - No wonder CNN is going broke!

The insurance companies have estimated the damage at $20 billion. They have done the most detailed examination to date.

The majority of the $60 billion is borrowed pork. It has got to stop.

The reps should make sure everyone knows the facts.

Why is there $600 MILLION in the bill for the EPA? Their budget since Obama has taken office has tripled!!!! You wonder why we are $16 TRILLON in debt?

Obama has doubled almost every dept since he took office, some have gone up much more, enough. Look at food stamps and all the people going on disability because they can not get money any other way. ( or they just don't want to work )

If Obama does not stop all the spending, it is proof he is trying to destroy America, not transform it.

Obama and cronies want to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires even more.

0.07% pay 40% of all income taxes now. 50% pay no income taxes. It is not fair, the 50% should start paying their fair share.

I guess federally subsidized rum at the tune of $222 million, $46 million for NASCAR, $266 million in tax credits for the movie industry, $7 million to buy electric scooters, and tax credits worth $12 billion over 10 years for the wind industry would really really really really help out those Sandy victims!

Adding this much pork should make everyone shudder, especially conservatives, enough to not support this bill. But ultimately it will be the republicans fault for not supporting such erroneous spending.

How in the world did we ever survive a hurricane without our government stepping in to help?

The blue states of New York and New Jersey deserve no assistance from the rest of this country that still has moral and political integrity! This sort of storm could only have been the work of God Himself sending a message that we are still too blind to see. Just as when He sent Katrina to punish the den of sin that is New Orleans, Sandy was just a warning of things to come if we do not set our country back on the right track.